A/N: Sorry I took so long! Hope you all had a merry christmas, hannaukah(sp) or whatever it is you celebrate, and for those of you that celebrated the Sejin No Hi festival, hope you had fun! And for those of you in England... have you seen the snow!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its plot/characters.

January 8th

Neji's eyes blinked open at the sound of the alarm clock. Stabbing a fist at it, he broke the clock, cogs rolling off the bedside table. Rolling to his right side, he placed an arm on the empty space next to him on the king size bed. Tenten still hadn't come back.

Sighing, Neji grouchily got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom in the nude, grabbing a small platinum ring that held a medium sized pearl, small sapphires circled around it. Tenten's engagement ring.

Neji and Tenten had been dating for five years. Neji vowed that, from the very moment he started going out with her he would never hurt her. He being himself broke this vow countless times, but Tenten always understood how he really felt.

But a woman's patience can only last so long.

Tenten kept her head buried in her pillow throughout the night, not wanting to disturb Ino with her crying. Her face was puffy and red and hot from crying into her pillow all night. By Tenten's futon, were empty pots of chocolate flavoured ice cream, several empty bottles of tequila and a couple hundred sweet wrappers.

Taking her head off of the pillow, Tenten squinted, blocking the sun with her hand. Rolling onto the floor, she reaches for a stray bottle of water, sitting up to drink. Ino walked into the room groaning, rubbing her temples. "I am so hung over!" Ino rubbed her ears, a ringing inside her ear. She glances at Tenten, and then smirks strangely. "It may be the alcohol talking…. But I think you're hot…." Ino giggles. After a few seconds of Tenten staring at Ino awkwardly, Ino sighs and then passes out.

Tenten scoffs, trying to remember exactly how much they had to drink the previous night. Slowly getting up off of the soft carpeted floor, she walks over to Ino and picks her up off of the floor. Slinging Ino over her shoulder, Tenten looks around her, groaning as she kicks a few empty sake bottles out of the way to reveal a phone.

Plopping Ino onto the kitchen counter, Tenten picked up the phone and poked at some numbers.

Sakura walked into the kitchen, sporting purple bunny slippers, a red t-shirt and light blue spotted shorts. Taking an apple out of her mouth, she picks up the ringing phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Sakura, is that you?"

"Tenten!? Are you okay? The last I saw you, you was with Ino an-"

"Yeah, yeah! Ino has just passed out and I think she's really drunk. Do you mind coming over? I'm at Ino's place."

"Oh gosh…. Fine! I'll be there in a minute!" Sakura hung up, leaving Tenten listening to a dial tone.

Pulling on a pair of jeans, a dark grey sweater and white trainers, Sakura picked up her keys and then opened the door, only to find a flustered Suigetsu to greet her. He quickly composed himself.

"Hey Sakura. How are things going?" Suigetsu grins, his violet eyes set alight with something Sakura couldn't quite point out.

Placing a finger on her chin and a hand on her hip, Sakura pouts. "Hmm…. Well Ino-pig is drunk at nine o'clock in the morning, Tenten just broke off her engagement with Neji a week before the wedding and Hinata has been kidnapped leaving Naruto shattered. Other than that, things are going great!" Sakura raised an eyebrow at Suigetsu, her tone mocking.

Scratching the back of his head, Suigetsu chuckles half-heartedly. "Anyway… umm…. I know this is a bad time to ask but-"

"Look, whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait! I have a lot of things to do!" Sakura pushes past Suigetsu, racing away, forgetting to shut the door behind her. Suigetsu sighs, shutting the door for Sakura.

"Sakura, will you go out with me!" Suigetsu scoffs, kicking at some dirt on the ground. He makes his leave after a minute of just staring at Sakura's door.

Naruto repeatedly punched the trunk of an old oak tree, his knuckles white and bloody. Dark circles lingered beneath his sad eyes. His lips were dry and red, the skin bitten off. His hair was messy and uncombed.

And somewhere behind this wreck of a man lay a photo and a headband, nailed together with a kunai. Naruto kept punching the tree trunk until it split in half. Staring at the empty space left behind by the tree trunk, Naruto fell to his knees and screamed.

"There was nothing you could do." Kakashi placed a hand Naruto's shoulder, only to be knocked back.

"You don't know what it's like! To be so helpless! To not be able to save someone you love dearly…." Naruto bawled, tears streaming down his face.

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak but then fully realized Naruto's melancholic disposition, so decided to say nothing. He got up and brushed off the dust on his trousers. "You take as much time as you need." Kakashi left after saying so little, exhausted of the year's trouble.

Naruto sat on the ground, still crying.

"You're pathetic." Naruto turned around to see Neji. He was slumped against a tree, a sake bottle held in a loose grip.

"Please don't tell me your drunk..." Naruto sniffled, cringing at the strong smell of alcohol.

Sakura walked into Ino's apartment. Walking into the kitchen, she saw Tenten and Shikamaru. "When did Shikamaru get here?" Sakura asked.

"Apparently they were both supposed to meet up for some sort of training session." Tenten replied. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru who simply shrugged and pointed at Ino. Sakura took one look at the blonde on the kitchen counter and laughed.

Getting a glass of water, Sakura splashed it on Ino's face, who woke up choking.

"Oh crap! What the hell happened?" Ino appeared flustered.

"You got drunk." Shikamaru stated. Ino spotted Shikamaru, and stared into his caramel eyes. A few seconds past, then she kissed him. Shikamaru pushed Ino off of him, who giggled gleefully. "A bit too drunk…"

Sakura looked at Shikamaru. "You two are going out, aren't you?"

"Apparently…" Shikamaru groaned, while Ino squealed.

Sasuke looked over to the still unconscious Hinata who continuously muttered in her sleep. Frowning, he looks up and catches Madara with a deathly glance. Madara retaliates with a sneer. Konan notices the merry war and decides to intervene.

"Oh please! The both of you are acting like four year olds!" Konan scolds Sasuke and Madara, who both hang their head in shame.

Swallowing his pride, Sasuke finally looks up and asks, "Why is Hinata here?"

Madara begins to chuckle. "I thought you would have figured it out by now!"

"Just tell me!" Sasuke spat.

Madara throws his head back to look at the blue sky. "For leverage."

Sasuke frowns in confusion, debating in his head whether the answer to his burning question was one he wanted to hear. "Leverage for what exactly?"

"Leverage for a failed project." Madara smirks.

Konan begins to giggle, obviously having lost her mind long ago.

Sasuke's breath hitched in his throat. Eye of the moon project.